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SCHENECTADY COUNTY 3RD DISTRICT
2 vie for county seat in District 3
Race is for remaining year of Eidens’ term
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

    The race between Democrat Martin Finn and Republican Tim Macfarlane for the District 3 seat, representing Glenville and Niskayuna on the Schenectady County Legislature, has been playing out quietly in this off year for countywide races.
    The candidates are running to fill the remaining year of the term of Michael Eidens, D-Schenectady, who resigned in January to serve as a judicial hearing officer for the New York State Unified Court System.
    Candidates will have to run again in November 2009 for a full four-year term. This is the only open seat on the county Legislature this year; Democrats hold an 11-4 majority.
    Macfarlane is making his fi rst bid for public office. Democrats appointed Finn to the District 3 seat in February. He first ran for the seat in 2001, coming in fourth.
    Macfarlane said the campaign has been difficult, although its tone has been positive. “It’s tough competing against the Democrats’ resources. Some people are surprised I am in the race,” he said.
    Democrats are outspending Republican counterparts by a factor of 16 in the race, according to fi - nancial documents filed with the state Board of Elections, and are peppering the district with mailers two or three times a week. Macfarlane said he is countering the blitz by hitting the streets and putting up a lot of signs.
    District 3 comprises Glenville and Niskayuna; it is the largest of the four legislative districts and enrolled Republicans outnumber Democrats 12,613 to 10,581.
FINN
Finn said he is running this year to continue his service to the community, a commitment going back 20 years. “I like giving back to the community. I think it is important. If you have time and talent, you should give back,” he said.
    Finn is a former chairman of the board for the Chamber of Schenectady County and for St. Clare’s Hospital Foundation and is a former president of the board for the Alzheimer’s Association.
    Finn’s campaign platform focuses on controlling property taxes and continuing the momentum of economic development in the county. The two are related in that expanding the tax base will help reduce the tax burden, he said.
    The Legislature can help this process by providing the county’s main engine of economic development, the Metroplex Development Authority, with “funds and opportunities to do the job right,” Finn said.
    He also proposing the county help market the community to existing and start-up businesses. “We have incubators, we have corporation parks in the towns where we can offer them space. We are looking at the airport for development,” he said. “I want to focus on assisting Niskayuna with its economic development, but it has to be responsible growth in all the areas. Homeowners want to maintain the nature of their communities.”
    Finn called unacceptable a proposed 12.9 percent increase in the tax levy, contained in the tentative $279.9 million budget for 2009.
    Democrats are proposing to slash $2.2 million off the tax levy, bringing the proposed increase to 9.2 percent. Finn said this figure is also unacceptable and is working to reduce the increase further.
    “We have to do a better job on it. We haven’t finalized the number, and I don’t know where it is going to end up,” Finn said.
    The county Legislature is meeting Thursday night to adopt a fi - nal budget. It must adopt a budget by Saturday.
MACFARLANE
    Macfarlane is seeking office to fix problems that he said are being ignored by county government. “There is so much waste in tax dollars. There are no efficiencies. It’s plain dangerous. I see where the solutions are out there and I want to address them,” he said.
    If elected, he would seek to consolidate services as a means to control taxes. For example, he would redirect the sheriff’s patrol from its current mission of providing coverage in outlying towns, which he said is already provided by state police, toward alleviating a backlog of warrants in the county.
    He would work to establish centralized booking and centralized dispatch, which remove several layers of duplicative services and improve communications between agencies. And he would work to develop maintenance and other service agreements between the county and the towns and villages.
    “I think the county Legislature is stagnant. They have a chance to be proactive, to make changes, but they are not doing it,” Macfarlane said.
    In talking with people in the community, he said he constantly hears their worries about high taxes. “They can’t make ends meet. With the heating bills they are facing, it is insurmountable,” Macfarlane said. “Consolidating services would help control costs.”
    Macfarlane looks at his own situation as an example of how difficult financial times are in the area. “I have 36 years in a 20-year retirement system, and I can’t afford to retire,” he said. “I have to work until I am 62 to get threequarters of my pay.”
    Finn said his eight months on the Legislature were educational. “It has been different. I am still soaking it in and I am still trying to learn,” he said. “This is very foreign to what I am used to. Government operations run different from how they run in the private world.”
    The experience also challenged him, Finn said. “There are things I had to get used to, there are issues of partisanship I am not used to in my community work. And there are challenges to provide services to seniors and youths and to find revenues to provide these services,” he said.
    Both parties demonstrate partisanship, Finn said. “In our meetings, it sometimes seems people are saying things that are more along party lines than necessarily might be best for the community.”
    As for himself, he said, he has “never been told to follow the party line. I happen to vote as I think is appropriate. I have voted along party line because I feel it is appropriate.”
    Macfarlane said he believes he could accomplish much in the Legislature, even as a member of the minority. “I could work with the Democrats, but I won’t know until I get there,” he said.
    Macfarlane said the one-year term would give the public a chance to measure his performance and determine whether he should win a full term. “It’s a one-year trial basis to see if I meet their expectations,” he said.

Martin Finn
PARTY AFFILIATION: Democrat . AGE: 50. RESIDENCE: Niskayuna . FAMILY: Married , four children .
EDUCATION:
Bachelor ’ s degree from Siena College , law degree from Albany Law School , master ’ s of law degree from New York University Law School .
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Partner of Lavelle & Finn law fi rm . POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Ap pointed to Schenectady County Legislature in February .

Tim Macfarlane
PARTY AFFILIATION: Republican . AGE: 55. RESIDENCE: Glenville FAMILY: Married, three children. EDUCATION:
Associate ’ s de gree in criminal justice from Schenectady County Commu nity College .
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Scotia police of fi cer for 29 years ; seven years prior experi ence as Schenectady County sheriff ’ s deputy . Treasurer of Scotia PBA for past four years ; former PBA president for 15 years . POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Mem ber of Glenville Republican Committee .

we dont need another trouble - maker to help Farely cause trouble. Keep Mr. Finn if you are smart people

The people will decide.

Finn wants to give Metrograft "funds and opportunity to do the job right"? Huh? Does he mean increase the County taxpayers burden? Have they been doing it all wrong under Metrograft Ray? Of course, no follow up on this stupid comment from the Gazette "reporter".

      This is a must win for the County Reps. McCain, Buhrmaster, and Farley will all win big in this district. If they can't take back this important County seat, heads will roll.

I imagine that the fine folks of Niskayuna are upset about their 401K programs (which will be outlawed anyway soon) and the 'war' so will stay on the liberal/socialists line this election day. I don't hold much hope for the GOP contestant. He is also outspent 5-1 with big fat-cat developer cash which was personally raised by Ray Gillen who used the peoples' Metroplex funds to get the kick-backs in return. I think they send Galesi CEO Buiko's father-in-law assistant county attorney Donald Deangelus out to get the money from people. As a matter of fact I know they do since I was told first hand by a large democratic donor. Don't forget that Deangelus was the town attorney and democratic chair for James Constantino while the town was getting milked. Remember the nice roads the developers built that lasted about 4 seconds before the taxpayers had to replace them all? Constantino admitted to taking a kick back so that the developers could build the road substandard and turn them over to the town. I always wondered how Jimmy C. was the only fall guy. He certainly was not the brains of the operation!

Now he(De'angelgush)has a new political milking role.

Not in that district at this time, besides Finn will pretend he is different than Savage and the taxers and I am sure he will be able to vote against the budget with the GOP, just this one time. the 'smartest' people are the easiest to fool when it comes to blindly following socialists ideology. Nisky' proves that point.

I would classify that as a monkey.....and now the governor is going to the feds to help the state????? Everyones closets will be open and the planet
of the apes will ensue........

I also predict that Finn will vote with the Republican minority against the proposed 2009 county budget.  He will be given permission to do so by Savage who understands that (1) there are enough Democratic votes to pass the budget and (2) that Finn will ingratiate himself with the District 3 voters if he votes against the budget and calls for further cuts in spending and resulting taxation in the qualification of his vote.

I will be curious to hear how Legislator Buhrmaster votes on this budget.  He is running his campaign as an advocate of the taxpayers.

Finn is a good man abut the facts is the budget was best they could do over there since there are many in need like the seniors and the children and we cant throw them in the street. Why dont youy people relize that the repubs were against taking care of the peoiples needs and Judy and Tony and them there did what they had to do to get that job done and make sure the roads were paved. My sources are telling me at coffee today that the repubs were against safe roads and programs for the kids and wanted to even close the Glendale and that Surhade didnt even know where glendale was. Then he went against the cuts and wanted to raise the taxes 13 per - cent.

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quoting Mr. Lamendola:
The race between Democrat Martin Finn and Republican Tim Macfarlane for the District 3 seat, representing Glenville and Niskayuna on the Schenectady County Legislature, has been playing out quietly in this off year for countywide races.

Isn't it his job as the one covering the county beat to find out what the news is before we get to 4 days before the election?  Isn't the only reason that this is a "quiet" race because A) The residents of Schenectady County can't afford to run big races for 1 seat on the board in an off-year, and B) that the Gazette (the official newspaper of Schenectady County) has not run a single story on this to tell us where each of these candidates stand?

Maybe if there was coverage on the story in the first place, it wouldn't be playing out so quietly.  Maybe it wouldn't be so "quiet" if we heard where the 2 gentlemen stand.  Instead, we run on the fact that one was appointed, therefore now an incumbent, and the other is unknown.  I'm sure that the people of the district are getting SOME more information, but if they're getting ANYTHING, that's more than the rest of us.

If it has been quiet, it's because Puff Daddy La-La at the People's Gazette hasn't been doing his job. Why doesn't he publish a list of donors to Marty Finn? GB has given you some dynamite to work with. Too hot to handle?

     Jim B. voted against raping the County taxpayers. He's a great guy but way too quiet when these idiotic proposals like expanding the Downtown Library with a socialist coffee house first emerge. This is his dry run for State Senate.

     With Jimmy running unopposed and Sen. Farley to win 85% of the vote, this is a must win for the County Reps. Finn finished dead last when he ran for this post 4 years ago. Look for a massive overhaul if they can't take back this traditional Rep seat, in the most Republican district.

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Finn is a good man abut the facts is the budget was best they could do over there since there are many in need like the seniors and the children and we cant throw them in the street. Why dont youy people relize that the repubs were against taking care of the peoiples needs and Judy and Tony and them there did what they had to do to get that job done and make sure the roads were paved. My sources are telling me at coffee today that the repubs were against safe roads and programs for the kids and wanted to even close the Glendale and that Surhade didnt even know where glendale was. Then he went against the cuts and wanted to raise the taxes 13 per - cent.

It is quite obvious that you and your morning coffee friends were not in attendance at the county meeting.

The lights are on, but no-ones home JoAnn when it comes to Sal.

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Quoted from benny salami:
If it has been quiet, it's because Puff Daddy La-La at the People's Gazette hasn't been doing his job. Why doesn't he publish a list of donors to Marty Finn? GB has given you some dynamite to work with. Too hot to handle?

The list of campaign donors to Marty Finn is available at the link below.  Several interesting entries include:

• Benetech ($1500)
  
• Schenectady County Sheriffs ($1000)
  
• AFSCME ($250)
  
• Law Enforcement Officers Union Council 92 ($500)
  
• Schenectady First Fund ($125)
  

Of particular interest to me is that several law enforcement agency organizations/unions donated to Finn despite Macfarlane being a Village of Scotia Police Officer.

http://www.elections.state.ny......&CATEGORY_IN=ALL

I am unable to locate a campaign filing for Tim Macfarlane.  I am uncertain if I am spelling his name correctly.  Perhaps he has financed his own campaign.  I haven't seen many signs or heard of much literature related to his campaign.

Half the time , no I'm sorry, I mean most of the time it's about spin and looks so we can sit here and conversate about the smoke and the
direction they blow it in or up, whatever......

&p_product=NewsBank&p_docid=1110F50E5FBC3934&p_text_direct-0=document_id=">http://iw.newsbank.com/iw-sear.....irect-0=document_id=(%201110F50E5FBC3934%20)&p_nbid=N56D5EYSMTIyNTcxNDQ2NC45OTgxNjY6MTo4OnJhLTE5NzUz

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Partners in law firm now in legal dispute
Daily Gazette, The (Schenectady, NY) - Thursday, December 6, 2001
Author: Gazette Reporter, JOEL MANDELMAN
ALBANY - A dispute between the law partners at Conway, Lavelle & Finn has ended up in court.

In a lawsuit, Kara Conway Love claims John Lavelle and Martin Finn misdirected money from the firm to pay their health and disability insurance. When she asked them to repay her the costs, the two rejected the offer and told Love they had formed a new partnership and that she must leave the firm's Colonie office, the lawsuit said.

Conway, Lavelle & Finn, which is located at 450 New Karner Road, has been one of the largest estate-planning practices in Capital Region.

The firm was founded in 1996 when the late James Conway, Love's father, became partners with Lavelle and Finn. In March 1999, the firm merged with Roach & Harris of Albany. At the time of the merger, the firm had 10 attorneys.

In the suit, Love seeks to dissolve the partnership, liquidate and divide its assets and collect legal fees and unspecified punitive damages.

She also accuses Lavelle and Finn of violating federal tax law by paying their insurance costs from the partnership's gross receipts and deducting the costs from their personal incomes without declaring them as income.

A Buffalo-based spokesman for the Internal Revenue Service declined to say whether the agency was investigating the charge.

Christine Galvin, a Latham attorney who is representing Love, declined to comment on the case, citing a court order "to keep everything confidential." A representative from Lavelle & Finn did not respond to a message seeking comment Wednesday.

The firm's Web site, http://www.conwaylavellefinn.com, was "under construction" Wednesday. A note on the site, though, said: "Coming soon: Lavelle & Finn, LLP."

Love filed the lawsuit Nov. 30 in state Supreme Court in Albany County.
Edition: Schenectady Albany; Final
Section: Business
Page: C-11
Record Number: 1110F50E5F5FB9E6